134 
Allen’s naturalist’s library. 
Adnlt Male. — General colour above olive-brown, slightly 
glossed with green ; wing coverts and long inner secondaries 
like the back ; quills greenish-black, the secondaries externally 
olive-brown, inclining to ashy-whitish at their ends ; upper 
tail-covcrts white; tail greatly forked, the feathers blackish, 
with a green gloss and paler brown tips, the base white, this 
gradually increasing in extent towards the outer feathers, while 
on the outermost one the white occupies the basal two-thirds ; 
head like the baek, the feathers below the eye whitish ; the 
fore-part of the cheeks and throat sandy-buff, surrounded by a 
white line, followed by a black line, which runs from the front 
part of the eye, and is followed by a whitish shade ; ear-coverts, 
hinder cheeks, sides of neck, fore-neck, and breast dark ashy- 
brown ; lower breast, abdomen, thighs, and under tail-coverts 
white ; axillaries and inner under wing-coverts chestnut, the 
former with black bases ; rest of wing-coverts blaekish, with a 
little patch of white near the lower primary-coverts ; bill dark 
brown, red at the base behind the nostril ; feet black ; iris 
browTi. Total length, 8-8 inches; culmen, o'8; wing, 7-5; 
tail, 3‘8 ; tarsus, i'25. 
Adnlt Female. — Similar to the male in colour. Total length, 
9'2 inches; culmen, 07 ; wing, 7'i5 ; tail, 4’2 ; tarsus, i‘2. 
Young Birds. — Recognisable by the whitish edgings to the 
feathers of the upper surface, all the light markings having a 
sub-terminal bar of black; quills and tail-feathers similarly 
fringed and tipped with black; cheeks and throat creamy- 
white, with narrow blackish shaft-lines ; fore-neck and lower 
throat ashy-grey, edged with wliite and mottled with sub- 
terminal bars of black ; chest creamy-buff ; remainder of 
under surface of body white. 
Range in Great Britain. — An occasional visitor in spring and 
autumn, appearing during the season of migration. It has 
occurred in most of our southern and eastern counties, but 
also in Lancashire and Cumberland, and even in Unst, the 
most northern of the Shetland Isles. One example has been 
recorded from Co. Cork in Ireland. 
Range ontside tie British Islands. — In localities suited to its 
habits, the Pratincole is found breeding in most of the 
Mediterranean countries, whence, according to Mr. Howard 
